One hundred three surgical house officers, 41 in general surgery and 62 in specialty surgery, entered the residency program from 1975 through 1979. Their application data, including the National Board of Medical Examiners test part I scores, preclinical course honors, clinical course honors, surgical clerkship honors, election to Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA), published research, medical school grading system, medical school rating, and National Resident Matching Program rank, were tabulated. Each house officer's performance was assessed by monthly faculty evaluation and by annual standard American Board of Surgery In-Training Examination (ABSITE) score through the second year of the program. The application data were compared with the performance data to determine significant indicators of success. Factor analysis computed on the monthly evaluation forms identified a knowledge factor and an interpersonal skills factor. Statistical analyses were used to study the relationships among the independent (preentry) variables and the knowledge, interpersonal skills, and ABSITE postentry variables. The results were significant (P less than 0.05) for medical school honors, election to AOA, and medical school grading system. No significance was found for the remaining preentry variables. The knowledge and interpersonal skill evaluation scores for the house officer I and II years were significantly correlated. Although the postentry assessment of knowledge correlated with certain applicant data, the assessment of interpersonal factors was not statistically related.